Admissions

The Academy has an agreed Admission Policy which complies with the law on admissions.

All parents must apply for Reception Class school places using the Oldham Council admissions process. Details of the Oldham Council schools co-ordinated admissions scheme and policies are available at:

Oldham Primary Admissions Online Link

This is an online application process. The information on the website is very clear and you should be able to find answers to frequently asked questions. Should you require any assistance please contact the number below:

Telephone : 0161 770 1046

Free Nursery Education Place

All 3 and 4 year old children are entitled to a free part-time nursery education place if their parents/carer wish to accept one. Places for 3 year olds will be from the term after the child’s 3rd birthday. Nursery education places can be accessed through lots of different providers.

If your child will be 3 or 4 years old between 1 September and 31 August and you would like to take advantage of part-time nursery education, you should contact the school as soon as possible.

We will keep a list of pupils whose parents have asked for a place. This place will normally be for 5 mornings or 5 afternoon sessions a week. It is the school who is responsible for determining which children will be offered a nursery place at their school. We will inform you by letter in March if a place is available for your child. If there are more requests for places than there are places available, criteria will be used to decide admissions, in order of priority (see policy below).

Parents not allocated a place

Parents who are not allocated a place at a nursery class will be informed in writing. We can help with information about other providers in the area.

Parents should then make their own enquiries about vacancies directly with another school, private day nursery or pre-school.

Younger Children

Children who become 3 year old between 1 September and 31 August may be offered a place at a nursery from January after their third birthday, if places are still available. We cannot and do not save places for ‘rising 3’ year olds.

We will use the criterion of ‘readiness for a nursery curriculum’ to decide which children will be offered these places. This will be assessed by our staff through a home visit in the Autumn term.

Preparing your child for Primary School

https://www.oldham.gov.uk/info/201165/preparing_your_child_for_primary_school

Apply for a school place

https://www.oldham.gov.uk/admissions

Please note:

If your child attends the nursery class attached to an Infant or Primary School, this does not guarantee admission to the reception class at the school.

A copy of the academy’s Admissions Policy is contained in the link below (as well as the top of this page):

Admissions Policy

Applying for your child Primary School Place – September 2022

Applying for a Secondary School place for September 2022

Supporting Transition For Vulnerable Children

Coppice Primary Academy Admissions Policy

Introductory Statement

Coppice Primary Academy is a welcoming, vibrant, exciting and inclusive place of learning, where everyone is valued and all their achievements are celebrated.

We are a large school for pupils aged 3-11, located near to the centre of Oldham. Our Academy is part of the Focus-Trust and caters for over 500 pupils.

Focus Academy Trust is the overall admissions authority for the Academy with decision making delegated to the Academy’s Governing Body.

The Academy is part of the co-ordinated admissions arrangements operated by Oldham Council (the Local Authority) and the Local Fair Access Protocol. The Local Authority co-ordinates admissions, allocates places to the Academy and informs families.

The Academy will comply with the School Admissions Code and the School Admission Appeal Code. This policy is based on the current codes but will be reviewed in the light of any future changes in the law.

An Independent Appeals Panel hears any appeals from parents whose child has not been allocated place at Coppice Primary Academy, and who lodges an appeal in accordance with the procedure specified by the Local Authority.

Pupil admission number

The Academy has an admission number of 70 pupils.

The Academy will accordingly provide for the admission of 70 pupils each year if sufficient applications for entry are received. Where fewer than the published admission number(s) for the relevant year groups are received, the Academy Trust will offer places at the Academy to all those who have applied.

Oversubscription criteria

The oversubscription criteria are only used when it is necessary to determine who will be offered a place when a school receives more applications than there are places available.

Children with a statement of special educational needs

When determining oversubscription criteria all admission authorities must ensure that they take account of their statutory responsibilities in respect of children with statements of special educational needs.

All governing bodies are required by Section 324 of Education Act 1996 to admit to the school a child with a statement of special educational needs that names the school. This is not an oversubscription criterion.

The criteria

The following criteria will be applied to determine which pupils have priority for admission:

Criterion 1

Children in care or children who have previously been looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to an adoption, residence, or special guardianship order will be given the highest priority for admission.

Criterion 2

Those children who are considered to have an exceptional medical or social reason as to why they should attend a particular school (parents will be required to submit evidence to support their application under this criterion).

Definition of exceptional medical need: The term exceptional medical need means that the child’s health and welfare would be best served if they attended the school. Parents or guardians would need to provide
medical evidence in the form of a letter or report from a doctor to support their case. They would have to establish that the school was the best or only school to serve their child’s needs. They would also need to state why other schools could not provide the appropriate support for their child.

Definition of exceptional social need: The term exceptional social need means that the child’s welfare would be best served if they attended the school. Parents or guardians would need to provide evidence in the form of a letter or report from a social worker or other professional in the area of children’s welfare to support their case. They would have to establish that the school was the best or only school to service their child’s needs. They would also need to state why other schools could not provide the appropriate support for their child.

If parents are claiming that there are exceptional medical or social reasons why their child should be prioritised above other applicants, they must give reasons for this claim, which must be supported by evidence. A panel of at least three members of the Academy Local Governing Body will assess that evidence.

Criterion 3

Those children who have a brother or sister at the school who will still be attending when their sibling is admitted to the school.

Sibling link: We accept that in some family units (one or two parents or carers and children), the children may not be natural brothers or sisters. Older children from the same family unit, living at the same family address, can be considered as a sibling link under this criterion. A sibling is your child’s brother or sister (including half-brothers and sisters, stepchildren and fostered children living with the same family at the same address). Please note that cousins do not count as siblings. Checks will be made with the relevant schools that siblings do live at the same address.

Twins or Triplets: In cases where twins, triplets or other multiple birth siblings are split when allocations take place, they will be allocated a place over the Published Admission Number.

Criterion 4

Those children who live nearest to the school.

Home to school distance measurement: Distance will be calculated by the straight line measurement from the applicant’s home address location to the centre point (‘centroid’) of the preferred school. (All measurements are subject to prepositional accuracy changes.)

On entering the address into the Admissions system, the address is PAF (Postal Address File) matched against Address Point data held in the system.

When an address is PAF matched, the system looks up a 6-figure grid reference (e.g. 123456, 123456) for that property known as an Address-Point Location Coordinate (APLC). Each property has a unique APLC. The straight line distance from this address point to the centroid (a 6 figure grid reference) is then calculated to the nearest 0.001 mile. The PAF file held by School Admissions is supplied by Royal Mail and is updated quarterly.

Flats/apartments: In the event of two or more children living an equal distance from the school, e.g. blocks of flats and there is only one place available, the place will be decided by random allocation (lottery).

Permanent address: The only address we can consider is the permanent home address of the child. The permanent home address is considered to be the address of the adult/s with whom the child is permanently resident. Where a child stays with another parent for part of the week, further enquiries may be made in order to determine where the child is predominantly resident.

Tiebreak criterion

It is possible that at some stage of applying the above criteria, a school becomes oversubscribed with requests for places. In these cases, the parents who live closest to the school will be offered the remaining places.

Childcare arrangements

If a child-minder, grandparents, or other family member cares for the child on a daily basis at another address, we cannot consider this address for the purpose of the school admission process.

Moving

We can only consider the parents’ address at the time of the allocation process.

An intention to change address cannot be considered until such a move has actually taken
place and proof is available to substantiate the change of address. Parents must notify the Admission Authority and provide proof of the new address, such as a copy of a signed tenancy agreement, or a utility or Council Tax bill, if they move house before the offer date.

The last date by which exceptional changes can be made is 15 February in the year of admission.

Fraudulent information

We will take strong action in that the school place offered may be withdrawn if a false address is given or one where the child is not actually living when s/he is not at school.

Children who attend a school nursery

Attending the nursery at Coppice Primary Academy does not guarantee admission. It does not give a child any guarantee or priority for admission to the reception class.

If your child attends the nursery, you must make a separate application for admission to the reception class along with all other parents

Waiting List Procedure

Waiting lists will be maintained for the Academy for children not offered a school place. Position on the list will be determined by applying the over-subscription criteria.

Positions on the waiting list may change due to new or late applications where these have a higher priority based on the oversubscription criteria. The waiting list will be adjusted to take account of late or in-year applications.

Names will be removed from the lists if requested or if the offer of a place that becomes available is not accepted

Late Applications

Late applications are considered as detailed in the Local Authority’s co-ordinated and in-year admissions scheme.

Deferring or Delaying Entry to Reception Classes

Please refer to the Local Authority’s policy which is available on the Oldham Council website www.oldham.gov.uk/admissions

Management of Applications

Applications will align to the Local Authority’s timetable for applications each year.

Independent Appeals Panel Procedure

Any parent/carer whose child is not offered a place at Coppice Primary Academy has the right of appeal to an Independent Appeals Panel. Information on how to appeal will be provided with the result of the application. The Appeals procedure is co-ordinated and managed by the Local Authority and further details can be found on their website.